Cause for World War One?

[Cposi_I_Caxponi]

What was the cause of World War One? I am reading some four different theories! Can anybody provide a simpler and yet detailed not-copy-paste from wikipedia information about how the Great War came about? Thanks!

[il padrino]

it's all serbias fault.let's bomb them!

/the most common answer you'll get here.

[Orko]

[Visna]

What was the cause of World War One? I am reading some four different theories! Can anybody provide a simpler and yet detailed not-copy-paste from wikipedia information about how the Great War came about? Thanks!

There are no simple yet detailed answers.
The most simple one you'll get is that it was because some Serb nationalist whacked Ferdinand.
WW1 was a disaster waiting to happen. The various alliances and intermarriages only made the thing even more confusing, and a system that had originally been good at keeping a sort of power balance in Europe had spun out of control. And the vast number of forces once mobilization had begun made it impossible to avoid.

[emperorpenguin]

Damn, Orko beat me to the best answer!

[Azog 150]

Originally Posted by Cposi_I_Caxponi
What was the cause of World War One? I am reading some four different theories! Can anybody provide a simpler and yet detailed not-copy-paste from wikipedia information about how the Great War came about? Thanks!

This is the conventional version that is usually taught in schools:


Basically, Europe was divided up into an alliance system. Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany were allies, and Russia, Britain and France were allies.

The Austro-Hungarian leader Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist who was part of a terrorist group. Austria-Hungary used this as an excuse for furthering their grip on the Balkans and invaded Serbia. Russia, who was fond of Serbia and wanted to oppose growing Austro-Hungarian power went to Serbia's aid. Germany, who had also been waiting for an opportunity to expand its power, said that it would go to war with Russia if Russia attacked Austro-Hungary. Russia did it anyway, so Germany went to war with Russia

France, who was allied with Russia and wanted to oppose Germany's growing influence went to war with Germany to help Russia. Britain, who had been watching the growing situation escalate and who was leaning towards France and Russia, promised neutral Belgium protection from German aggression. Germany, seeing the opportunity to expand Westward invaded neutral Belgium and moved into France. Britain then declared war on Germany as it was in Britain's interests to maintain a balance of power in Europe. World War 1 had begun.

Italy went back on its word and waited to see how things played out (In the end they joined with Britain, France and Russia). Japan also joined in the fun on Britain and Frances side as it saw an opportunity to take German colonies in the East. At some point the Ottomans joined on Germany's side and had some fun of their own, and finally the US joined as it felt a bit left out.

That is the general gist of it anyway.

[Lysimachos11]

This is the conventional version that is usually taught in schools:


Basically, Europe was divided up into an alliance system. Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany were allies, and Russia, Britain and France were allies.

The Austro-Hungarian leader Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist who was part of a terrorist group. Austria-Hungary used this as an excuse for furthering their grip on the Balkans and invaded Serbia. Russia, who was fond of Serbia and wanted to oppose growing Austro-Hungarian power went to Serbia's aid. Germany, who had also been waiting for an opportunity to expand its power, said that it would go to war with Russia if Russia attacked Austro-Hungary. Russia did it anyway, so Germany went to war with Russia

France, who was allied with Russia and wanted to oppose Germany's growing influence went to war with Germany to help Russia. Britain, who had been watching the growing situation escalate and who was leaning towards France and Russia, promised neutral Belgium protection from German aggression. Germany, seeing the opportunity to expand Westward invaded neutral Belgium and moved into France. Britain then declared war on Germany as it was in Britain's interests to maintain a balance of power in Europe. World War 1 had begun.

Italy went back on its word and waited to see how things played out (In the end they joined with Britain, France and Russia). Japan also joined in the fun on Britain and Frances side as it saw an opportunity to take German colonies in the East. At some point the Ottomans joined on Germany's side and had some fun of their own, and finally the US joined as it felt a bit left out.

That is the general gist of it anyway.

Sorry but your version is wrong on several fundamental points. There was no growing Austro-Hungarian power and Germany had no intention of expanding territory, that was in WW2.

I've studied the subject extensively and I'll give you the main causes and circumstances:

• Firstly Austria-Hungary was experiencing ethnic conflict, among others from Serbian nationalists (but also Czechs, Slovaks, etc.) who wanted their own state instead of being part of a multi-ethnic empire. Justified war with Serbia would enable Austria to crush the (perceived) main supporters of nationalist groups, thus preserving Austria from falling apart under nationalist attacks from within.
• France, very simply put, wanted a European war in order to (re)take Alsace-Lotharingia from Germany. Any opportunity that could achieve this would be used.
• Russia was expansionist towards the Balkans, and for complicated reasons preferred war over the Balkans with both Germany and Austria at the same time. This might sound strange, but in the 1870's Russia nearly captured Constantinople, but was forced to return all gains under pressure from neutral Germany.
• Germany, while under Wilhelm II making a lot of noise, was actually least interested and least helped with war in Europe of all nations. Germany did not seek expansion in Europe, only in the colonial area. Germany was however very concerned their recently gained state (1871) might be destroyed by a combined Russo-French attack from two fronts. Especially France wanted Germany dismantled and returned to weak small states instead of one. In case of attack by either France or Russia, Germany would have to attack both as only a speedy attack could mean any hope of survival for the Germans. This led to the (in)famous Schlieffenplan.
• Great Britain had most space to move, it had had good relations with Germany as well as France, but simply put: stupid but in fact well-intended German foreign policy made it appear as if Germany sought expansion.

The direct cause for the war in the end was not Gavrilo Princip's murder of Franz Ferdinand. This merely led to the Austro-Serbian war of 1918. It was the Russian decision to start a full mobilization of its armies intended for use against both Austria and (in the Austro-Serbian conflict mostly uninvolved) Germany, instead of a partial mobilization against just Austria that triggered the war. Full mobilization of Russia forced Germany to attack both France and Russia, because if Russian mobilization would have been allowed to be completed (taking several weeks) Germany was 100% sure to be destroyed if the French chose to attack. And attack the French would have, since they did not make a secret they wanted Alsace/Elzaß back.

Hope it's understandable .

PS I could elaborate if needed but it would become a bit long.

[Heathen Hammer]

Imperial rivalry between several European superpowers. France wanted to get back at Germany for kicking their asses during Bismarck's rule and taking some of their lands, Britain was afraid Germans would take over their colonies, Russia wanted to gain a foothold in Balkans, help Serbs against Ausdtro-Hungarian imperialism and get Constantinople, Germans wanted to take England's place as strongest superpower, and Austro-Hungary was afraid that it is going to fall apart if some Slavic nations separate.

[Juvenal]

Germany wanted to mobilise against Russia in support of Austria-Hungary. Unfortunately their mobilisation plan was so tightly integrated with the Schlieffen plan that it delivered the bulk of the mobilising army directly to the French and Belgian borders (in accordance with the France-first concept for avoiding a two-front war against Russia and France).

It being impractical to march these armies over to the Russian border, Kaiser Wilhelm gave way to the inevitable and ordered the Schlieffen Plan put into action.

Therefore the German reaction to Russian mobilisation was to invade France through Belgium!

[Mangalore]

Germany wanted to mobilise against Russia in support of Austria-Hungary. Unfortunately their mobilisation plan was so tightly integrated with the Schlieffen plan that it delivered the bulk of the mobilising army directly to the French and Belgian borders (in accordance with the France-first concept for avoiding a two-front war against Russia and France).

It being impractical to march these armies over to the Russian border, Kaiser Wilhelm gave way to the inevitable and ordered the Schlieffen Plan put into action.

Therefore the German reaction to Russian mobilisation was to invade France through Belgium!

France mobilizing before germany might have more to do with it. It was clear that France would join the fray, thus the Schlieffenplan matched the strategic situation for which it was devised (two front war against Russia and France). It was equally clear that of the two only France could possibly be beaten quickly (had ben done before and demographics and statistics where in germany's favour) while defeating Russia was expected to be a drawn out thing (there was a several hundred miles wide railroad gap between germany and russia and russia could not be so deceisively beaten that they would leave the conflict early). As it were the German army miscalculated a wee bit though...

Overall a big catalysator for the conflict was that each's country operation plans were based on mobilization time tables to knock the enemy out before he was ready. This critically shortened the time where diplomatic intervention could take place and at which time the military would take over.

[Dr. Croccer]

There was no real cause. It was just the conflict between the ambitions and holdings of the biggest European empires. The Balcans were just one out of many possible powder kegs.

One cause I could suggest was balance. Europe, during the late 19th century, was more stable unbalanced. Bismarck isolated France, threatened Russia and buttered up with the rest. The main source of conflict would be the Balcans, because of conflicting interests of Russia and Austro-Hungary. In 1878 there was a crisis as Russians made several demands of Bulgaria, largely because of disgruntlement at the fact that their earlier treaties with the Ottomans (which would've made most of the Balcans a collection of Russian puppet states) were ignored by the major powers and rewritten. War could erupt so Germany and Austro-Hungary warned Russia, as did Britain, forcing Russia to back down. The German-AH alliances served two purposes: it warned the Russians and leashed Austro-Hungary. As long as Germany was top dog in Europe and controlled all the strings without much hassle, peace was certain. Untill the French-Russian entente. This instantly meant that Germany was now the weakest. Increasing British dislike didn't help either. Bismarck was long gone. German generals panicked at the joint military reforms the Russians and French launched in 1911/12, which would be finished in 1916. This was a great factor in the war breaking out in 1914. Due to fear and the (quite logical) idea of ''now or never'' Germany not only gave Austro-Hungary carte blanche, but threatened France, declared war on Russia and started the Schliefflen Plan. If there wasn't an entente and the pressure on Germany, 1914 would probably be the latest of various Balcan crisis. Germany could pull the leash of Austro-Hungary and notify them that they will refuse to aid them or send a clear warning to isolated Russia, neither of which would dare to do anything if the Germans said so.

[jankren]

The Serbs.

[Heathen Hammer]

The Serbs.

And Jews, obviously.

[il padrino]

here we go.

[Heavy Weapons Guy]

Serbs. Only their fault!

[il padrino]

Thank God we had Gavrilo Princip



there's even a punk-rock band in my town,called Gavrilo Princip

[Juvenal]

From the Wiki article on Kaiser Wilhelm

When it became clear that the United Kingdom would enter the war if Germany attacked France through neutral Belgium, Wilhelm attempted to redirect the main attack against Russia. When Helmuth von Moltke (the younger) told him that this was impossible, Wilhelm said: "Your uncle would have given me a different answer!!."

The supporting reference is Emil Ludwig, Wilhelm Hohenzollern: The Last of the Kaisers, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York (1927) p. 453

[Lysimachus]

here we go.

Well actually it was "the" cause for World War I. If that *d Gavrilo Princip didn't kill the Archduke things would have been very different. Just think, if he survived and got out of prison he would probably be stoned by anyone who saw him.

[il padrino]

Well actually it was "the" cause for World War I. If that *d Gavrilo Princip didn't kill the Archduke things would have been very different. Just think, if he survived and got out of prison he would probably be stoned by anyone who saw him.

no,it was THE TRIGGER,not the cause.we serbs are not that important

and about gavrilo,i don't think so.he would probably had recived a heros welcome,since the idea of a yugoslavian country,which all had in their minds,was created thanks to him.

[Lysimachus]

no,it was THE TRIGGER,not the cause.we serbs are not that important

'Tis the man behind the trigger. A trigger itself is meaningless. It's just with your intense Serbian nationalism you insist on finding any way to shift the blame from your country.